The present invention relates generally to systems for traffic and load monitoring and management. More particularly, it relates to apparatus and method for utilizing a two-way radio transponder to accurately and automatically determine the location of a vehicle and the condition of its load as it traverses the countryside, via a roadway, railway, bridge, tunnel, canal or other fixed bed transport path.
An increasing number of vehicles loaded with hazardous waste are traveling over progressively more congested transportation networks. In order to improve the efficiency of transportation, management systems have long been employed to optimize the capabilities of a private or specialized transport operation, such as a rail system or trucking operation. However, waste disposal has historically been subject to far less control and accountability than have commercial freight operations.
Hazardous materials are transported daily along roads, bridges, tunnels, and along railways and waterways, via diverse modes of transport. This presents the public at large, and the specific individuals involved, including emergency personnel and drivers of vehicles loaded with hazardous materials, with the possibility of significant risk in the case of traffic accidents and accidental leakage or rupture of a hazardous material container. Historically, methods of identifying and managing hazardous material transport are unsophisticated, being in most cases manually managed. For example, the driver of a truck carrying hazardous waste will generally hand over shipping papers or waste disposal licenses, will manually inspect the cargo during shipment, and will telephone or otherwise personally maintain contact with his carrier organization during travel or after its completion.
A method of electronically marking, identifying and managing hazardous cargo and vehicles could decrease the risk to the general public and might cost-effectively provide detailed information on hazardous cargo, status and route. Such information would also enhance safety measures for emergency personnel called to handle an accidental rupture of a hazardous material container.
In prior art transport management systems such as freight systems, the considerations of dispatching and tracking have been implemented primarily with regard to initially setting up shipping routes and delivery times to optimize efficiency of loading and traveling, and to confirm delivery after a shipment has been received, or been logged in at a transshipment point such as a trucking yard or warehouse.
Systems of this type are ill suited to hazardous waste hauling, wherein it would be advantageous to not only verify receipt or delivery of the load at an end point, but also to verify compliance, and to generate reports on the identity and physical condition of the load at a number of intermediate points, or even continuously, in transit.
Accordingly, an improved system is needed.